#1 of 956 Best music movie
2020 Documentary Musical 1h 45m English
92 Echo Score $248.6K worldwide
Directed by Spike Lee
About David Byrne’s American Utopia Top 100 · Music
The 100 Best Music Movies of All Time, Ranked
We rank 956 of the 11,285 music films on the site; these are the top 100. David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020) is #1 with an Echo Score of 92, ahead of The Producers (1968) and Stop Making Sense (1984). Ranked by Echo Score; 41 of these 100 films have none (released before 2017, when Echo Scores start) and are ranked by a blend of their Metascore and IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings. A ranked watchlist for concert films and music-driven stories. For new releases and box office hits, see the music movies guide.
- ranked music films
- 956
- music films on the site
- 11,285
- release years in the top 100
- 1936–2026
- award winners in the top 100
- 22
#1 of 956 Top 10
What Are the Best Music Movies?
David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020) leads with an Echo Score of 92, ahead of The Producers (1968); 6 of the top 10 are from the 2020s. 7 of the top 10 are ranked by Echo Score; the other 3, all released before 2017, are ranked by a blend of Metascore and IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings.
- 1. David Byrne’s American Utopia 92 Echo (Echo Score 92 out of 100)
2020 · Documentary, Music · 1h 45m
Dir. Spike Lee
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2. The Producers 96 Metascore (Metascore 96 out of 100)1968 · Comedy, Music · 1h 28m
No Echo Score: ranked 92/100 on critics & audiences · 1 award win
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3. Stop Making Sense 94 Metascore (Metascore 94 out of 100)1984 · Music, Documentary · 1h 28m
Dir. Jonathan Demme No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences · $13.1M worldwide
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4. A Star Is Born 90 Echo (Echo Score 90 out of 100)2018 · Drama, Romance · 2h 16m
5 award wins · $436.4M worldwide
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4. The Marching Band 90 Echo (Echo Score 90 out of 100)2024 · Music, Comedy · 1h 43m
Dir. Emmanuel Courcol $28.1M worldwide
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4. Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus 90 Echo (Echo Score 90 out of 100)2024 · Documentary, Music · 1h 43m
Dir. Neo Sora
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4. Going My Way 90 Metascore (Metascore 90 out of 100 (6 critic reviews))1944 · Drama, Comedy · 2h 6m
Dir. Leo McCarey No Echo Score: ranked 90/100 on critics & audiences · 10 award wins
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4. Keyboard Fantasies 90 Echo (Echo Score 90 out of 100)2021 · Biography, History · 1h 11m
Dir. Posy Dixon 1 award nomination
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10. The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart 89 Echo (Echo Score 89 out of 100)2020 · Music, Documentary · 1h 51m
Dir. Frank Marshall
#11 to #100
Music Movies Ranked #11 to #100
Places 11 to 100: White Riot (2020) opens the list and Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) (2025) closes it. 19 of these 90 films are not in English; 13 languages appear in all. Filter by decade or language, or sort by year or box office.
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Decade
Language
Places 11 to 100; films with the same score share a rank. Use a filter or another sort to include the top 10.
Echo Score, our 0–100 rating (films from 2017 on) Blend: Metascore with IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings, for films without an Echo Score
- 1 1. David Byrne’s American Utopia
2020 · Documentary, Music · 1h 45m
92 Echo $248.6K - 2 2. The Producers
1968 · Comedy, Music · 1h 28m
92 Blend - 3 3. Stop Making Sense
1984 · Music, Documentary · 1h 28m
90 Blend $13.1M - 4 4. A Star Is Born
2018 · Drama, Romance · 2h 16m
90 Echo $436.4M - 4 4. The Marching Band
2024 · Music, Comedy · 1h 43m
90 Echo $28.1M - 4 4. Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus
2024 · Documentary, Music · 1h 43m
90 Echo $742K - 4 4. Hit the Road
2022 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 33m
90 Echo $995.1K - 4 4. Going My Way
1944 · Drama, Comedy · 2h 6m
90 Blend - 4 4. Keyboard Fantasies
2021 · Biography, History · 1h 11m
90 Echo - 10 10. The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
2020 · Music, Documentary · 1h 51m
89 Echo $280.4K - 10
10. White Riot2020 · Music, Documentary · 1h 20m
89 Echo $186K - 12
12. Robot Dreams2023 · Animation, Drama · 1h 42m
88 Echo $5.3M - 12
12. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé2023 · Music · 2h 49m
88 Echo $44M - 12
12. Amar Singh Chamkila2024 · Biography, Drama · 2h 25m
88 Echo - 12
12. Black Is King2020 · Music · 1h 25m
88 Echo - 12
12. Dinner in America2022 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 46m
88 Echo - 12
12. Show Boat1936 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 53m
88 Blend - 18
18. Whiplash2014 · Drama, Music · 1h 47m
87 Blend $50.4M - 18
18. Woodstock1970 · History, Music · 3h 4m
87 Blend $321.3K - 20
20. Meet Me in St. Louis1945 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 53m
87 Blend - 21
21. Yi Yi2000 · Drama, Romance · 2h 53m
87 Blend $1.2M - 22
22. Waitress - The Musical: Cameri2023 · Music, Comedy · 2h 30m
87 Echo - 22
22. One More Time with Feeling2016 · Music, Documentary · 1h 52m
87 Blend $904.4K - 22
22. Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché2022 · Biography, Music · 1h 36m
87 Echo $53.9K - 22
22. Amadeus2002 · Drama, Music · 2h 40m
87 Blend - 22
22. Latin Blood – The Ballad of Ney Matogrosso2025 · Drama, Music · 2h 10m
87 Echo - 22
22. DJ Ahmet2025 · Music, Comedy · 1h 37m
87 Echo - 28
28. The Triplets of Belleville2003 · Adventure, Comedy · 1h 18m
86 Blend $14.8M - 29
29. Three Colors: Blue1993 · Drama, Mystery · 1h 38m
86 Blend $1.6M - 29
29. Blue Giant2023 · Animation, Drama · 2h
86 Echo $6.9M - 29
29. Little Richard: I Am Everything2023 · Music, Documentary · 1h 38m
86 Echo $178.5K - 29
29. Romería2025 · Music, Drama · 1h 54m
86 Echo - 29
29. Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World)2026 · Documentary, Music · 1h 59m
86 Echo - 34
34. Farewell My Concubine1993 · Drama, Romance · 2h 51m
86 Blend $7.4M - 34
34. U2 3D2008 · Music, Documentary · 1h 25m
86 Blend $22.7M - 36
36. Baby Driver2017 · Action, Thriller · 1h 52m
85 Echo $226.9M - 36
36. The Ballad of Wallis Island2025 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 40m
85 Echo $6.3M - 36
36. Wild Rose2019 · Drama, Music · 1h 41m
85 Echo $7.1M - 36
36. Tina2021 · Biography, History · 1h 58m
85 Echo $2.6M - 36
36. Let's Get Lost1989 · Music, Documentary · 2h
85 Blend $576.2K - 36
36. Zappa2020 · Biography, Music · 2h 9m
85 Echo $220K - 36
36. Look at Me: XXXTentacion2022 · Music, Documentary · 1h 48m
85 Echo $64K - 36
36. Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary2024 · Documentary, Music
85 Echo - 36
36. Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese2019 · Biography, Music · 2h 22m
85 Echo - 36
36. Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music2023 · Music, Documentary · 1h 46m
85 Echo - 36
36. Barracuda2017 · Drama, Thriller · 1h 40m
85 Echo - 47
47. Nashville1975 · Drama, Comedy · 2h 40m
85 Blend $10M - 48
48. A.K.A. Doc Pomus2013 · Biography, Music · 1h 38m
85 Blend - 49
49. Almost Famous2000 · Drama, Music · 2h 2m
84 Blend $47.4M - 49
49. This Is Spinal Tap1984 · Comedy, Music · 1h 22m
84 Blend $4.7M - 51
51. Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back1967 · Music, Documentary · 1h 36m
84 Blend - 52
52. In the Heights2021 · Drama, Romance · 2h 23m
84 Echo $45.2M - 52
52. Moonage Daydream2022 · Music, Documentary · 2h 15m
84 Echo $13.1M - 52
52. The Velvet Underground2021 · Music, Documentary · 2h 1m
84 Echo $5.6M - 52
52. Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All2024 · Documentary, Music · 2h 3m
84 Echo $232.8K - 52
52. Stelios2024 · Drama, Music · 2h 12m
84 Echo $862.7K - 52
52. Quest2017 · Documentary, Family · 1h 44m
84 Echo $50K - 52
52. Bang! The Bert Berns Story2017 · History, Music · 1h 34m
84 Echo $59.3K - 52
52. Limelight1952 · Drama, Romance · 2h 17m
84 Blend - 52
52. The Girls in the Band2013 · Biography, History · 1h 21m
84 Blend - 61
61. The Double Life of Veronique1991 · Drama, Mystery · 1h 38m
84 Blend $2.2M - 62
62. Once2007 · Drama, Romance · 1h 25m
83 Blend $22.3M - 63
63. The Fabulous Baker Boys1989 · Drama, Romance · 1h 54m
83 Blend $18.4M - 63
63. We Are the Best!2014 · Drama, Music · 1h 42m
83 Blend $1.6M - 63
63. Immediate Family2023 · Documentary, Music · 1h 42m
83 Echo $66.4K - 63
63. In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 502023 · Documentary, Comedy · 1h 26m
83 Echo $68.8K - 63
63. The Winding Stream2015 · Documentary, Biography · 1h 30m
83 Blend $33.4K - 63
63. Selena y Los Dinos2025 · Documentary, Biography · 1h 45m
83 Echo - 63
63. Sylvie's Love2020 · Drama, Romance · 1h 54m
83 Echo - 63
63. Neil Young Trunk Show2010 · Music, Documentary · 1h 22m
83 Blend - 63
63. F.T.A.2021 · Comedy, Music · 1h 37m
83 Echo - 63
63. Stadium Anthems2018 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 39m
83 Echo - 73
73. Anvil! The Story of Anvil2009 · Biography, Music · 1h 20m
83 Blend $951.4K - 74
74. Pete Seeger: The Power of Song2007 · Music, Documentary · 1h 33m
83 Blend $88.3K - 75
75. Inside Llewyn Davis2013 · Drama, Music · 1h 44m
82 Blend $33M - 75
75. The Last Waltz1978 · Music, Documentary · 1h 57m
82 Blend $363.5K - 77
77. The Decline of Western Civilization1981 · History, Music · 1h 40m
82 Blend $440 - 78
78. Song Sung Blue2025 · Biography, Drama · 2h 11m
82 Echo $58.7M - 78
78. CODA2021 · Drama, Music · 1h 51m
82 Echo $1.9M - 78
78. Girl You Know It's True2024 · Biography, Drama · 2h 4m
82 Echo $3.7M - 78
78. Bodied2018 · Drama, Comedy · 2h
82 Echo $114K - 78
78. Pavements2025 · Documentary, Biography · 2h 8m
82 Echo $354.5K - 78
78. Distant Voices, Still Lives1988 · Drama, Music · 1h 25m
82 Blend $771.7K - 78
78. Parandhu Po2025 · Music, Comedy · 2h 10m
82 Echo $47.3K - 78
78. Beats2020 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 41m
82 Echo $318.7K - 78
78. David Crosby: Remember My Name2019 · Music, Documentary · 1h 35m
82 Echo $732.8K - 78
78. Change Nothing (Ne Change Rien)2010 · Music, Documentary · 1h 40m
82 Blend $4.4K - 78
78. Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga2020 · Comedy, Music · 2h 3m
82 Echo - 78
78. Flamenco, Flamenco2014 · Music, Documentary · 1h 37m
82 Blend - 90
90. Cléo from 5 to 71962 · Drama, Comedy · 1h 30m
82 Blend - 91
91. Amy2015 · Biography, Music · 2h 8m
81 Blend $23.7M - 92
92. Festival Express2004 · History, Music · 1h 30m
81 Blend $1.3M - 93
93. Searching for Sugar Man2012 · Biography, Music · 1h 26m
81 Blend $9.4M - 94
94. Marley2012 · Biography, Music · 2h 24m
81 Blend $3.8M - 94
94. Heavy Trip2018 · Comedy, Music · 1h 32m
81 Echo $30.4K - 94
94. Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story2022 · Music, Documentary · 1h 34m
81 Echo $179K - 94
94. Hard Luck Love Song2021 · Drama, Thriller · 1h 44m
81 Echo $69.7K - 94
94. Sisters with Transistors2021 · Music, Documentary · 1h 26m
81 Echo $5.2K - 94
94. Sidemen: Long Road to Glory2017 · Biography, History · 1h 17m
81 Echo $31.4K - 94
94. Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)2025 · Documentary, Music · 1h 52m
81 Echo
No film in this list matches both filters. Choose "All" in one of them.
Decade by decade
The Best Music Movie of Every Decade
From The Jazz Singer (1927) in the 1920s to David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020) in the 2020s: the highest-ranked music movie of each of 11 decades. The 2020s place the most films in the top 100 (47).
- 1920s
66 Metascore The Jazz Singer 1927 - 1930s 88 Metascore Show Boat 1936
- 1940s 90 Metascore Going My Way 1944
- 1950s 84 Metascore Limelight 1952
- 1960s 96 Metascore The Producers 1968
- 1970s 95 Metascore Woodstock 1970
- 1980s 94 Metascore Stop Making Sense 1984
- 1990s 87 Metascore Three Colors: Blue 1993
- 2000s 94 Metascore Yi Yi 2000
- 2010s 90 Echo A Star Is Born 2018
- 2020s 92 Echo David Byrne’s American Utopia 2020
Awards
Which Music Movies Won the Most Awards?
Cabaret (1972) has the strongest record with 18 wins from 30 nominations, including wins at Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTA. Wins and nominations are counted across every ceremony on our awards pages.
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Cabaret 18 wins / 30 nom.1972 · Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA · 80 Metascore -
Elvis 15 wins / 41 nom.2022 · Golden Globes, BAFTA, Critics' Choice · 71 Echo -
Green Book 11 wins / 26 nom.2018 · Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA · 80 Echo -
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 10 wins / 27 nom.2020 · Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA · 77 Echo - CODA 10 wins / 16 nom.2021 · Oscars, BAFTA, Critics' Choice · 82 Echo
- Going My Way 10 wins / 13 nom.1944 · Oscars, Golden Globes · 90 Metascore
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Sound of Metal 9 wins / 22 nom.2020 · Oscars, BAFTA, Critics' Choice · 80 Echo -
Bohemian Rhapsody 9 wins / 19 nom.2018 · Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA · 68 Echo
Keep exploring
More Ways to Explore Music Movies
The top 100 are the best 10% of 956 ranked music films. The music guide, the full list of 11,285 films and the music box office chart cover the rest of the genre.
FAQ
Music Movies: Questions & Answers
Answers from the music ranking above: the best music film, how many music movies there are, the strongest decade and the most awarded music film.
What is the best music movie?
David Byrne’s American Utopia (2020) is the best-ranked music movie on What's After the Movie, with an Echo Score of 92. The Producers (1968) and Stop Making Sense (1984) follow. 7 of the top 10 are ranked by Echo Score; the other 3, all released before 2017, are ranked by a blend of Metascore and IMDb/Letterboxd user ratings.
About David Byrne’s American Utopia How many music movies are there?
The site lists 11,285 music films. 956 of them are ranked: features of 60+ minutes with a real audience, critic, award or box office signal and a score. This page shows the top 100.
All music movies Which decade has the best music movies?
The 2020s place 47 films in the top 100, more than any other decade. The oldest film in the list is Show Boat (1936), the newest Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World) (2026).
What is the most awarded music movie?
Cabaret (1972) won 18 awards from 30 nominations, ahead of Elvis (2022) (15 wins), counted across the Oscars, festivals and guild awards on our awards pages.
Movie awards How is this list different from the music genre page?
This page is only the ranking of the 100 best music films. The music genre page covers the whole genre: new releases, the biggest box office hits, its directors and how it changed over the decades.
Music movies guide